German Approach
Germans plan for the mid- to long-term. Short-term action cannot be planned for properly. It’s not worth the time, effort and investment.
American Approach
Americans plan for the short- to mid-term. Long-term action cannot be planned for properly. It’s not worth the time, effort and investment.
German View
Americans are far too short-sighted. They don’t plan far enough into the future. In fact, they don’t do any true long-term planning. All of their planning is in reality short-term, at the most mid-term.
American View
Germans plan far too far into the future. It’s a waste of our time. They don’t take enough into account how situations can change. Germans don’t do short-term planning. They’re often unprepared for sudden changes to a given situation.
Advice to Germans
What you as Germans define as mid-term is for Americans long-term. And your long-term is so far out for your American colleagues that they don’t even plan for it.
Explain to them how you define short- , mid- and long-term. Use different examples so that they grasp the German logic.
Be open for the idea that your long-term planning might very well be a waste of effort. Shrink your timelines. Practice much shorter short-term planning.
Advice to Americans
Make a sincere effort to understand how Germans define short-, mid- and long-term planning. Explain to them your definitions. Use examples in various areas of American society.
Stretch out your timelines for short, mid, and long. Allow the German logic to influence your American thinking. See what you come up with together. You might be surprised.
